Posts tagged: Camila Vallejo

Recently, in a blog post entitled ‘Monumentalising Revolution’, my commentary argued that the Monument to the Revolution in Mexico City stands as an ambiguous carrier of utopian promise, which links past and present generations of struggle. Specifically, my concluding point was that this architectural space stands as a possible symbol of ‘the effective participation of the present generation in shaping the utopian desires of the oppressed, linked to ongoing past and present social struggles’. Written in April, there was no anticipation in this piece of the events to come that have swirled around the student movement #YoSoy132 in contesting the presidential election process in Mexico.

As the grandees of the transnational capitalist class of the G20 prepared to meet in the municipality of Los Cabos in the Mexican state of Baja Califonia Sur to discuss global economic crisis, a rather different VIP came to address students, academics, and activists in Mexico. This was the figure of Camila Vallejo, Vice President of the Federación de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Chile (FECh) and also a member of the youth arm of the Communist Party of Chile, the Juventudes Comunistas de Chile (JJCC). Addressing audiences gathered at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) – Xochimilco and elsewhere in Mexico City, Camila Vallejo has provided a significant moment to reflect further on the struggles led by student movements in Chile, Mexico, and throughout Latin America.